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From Night
and Day January 1902
The
Training Ship
Nine and twenty years ago,
very early in the history of my own work, it was given to me to see clearly the
immense importance of the Training Ship as a means of discipline and training
for the unwanted youth of our great towns, and also as the very best method of
furnishing the requirements of our Mercantile Marine and of our Royal Navy. But
it was not God's will that I should then take action. By a strange series of
events, I was compelled to wait for many long years patiently and quietly. The
time would come, I felt assured, but it was not yet. Some day I shall hope to
tell, to those who may be willing to read it, the story of how my hands were
stayed. I do not know in all our annals a narrative more fitted to assure the
thoughtful soul of God's providential guidance and of the reality of Divine
answers to human prayers. But here and now I can only say that at last the
various hindrances and obstacles have been overcome; and that during the past
year an open door has been set before me in a very marvellous and unexpected
fashion, which I felt I dared not hesitate to enter.
The Story
of a Building
Here is the story of today.
In 1871 an imposing building was erected in an ideal situation at North Elmham,
in the county of Norfolk. It was· designed for a large county school. So
important was the new departure that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,
now King Edward VII (whose estate at Sandringham is only about fifteen miles
from the property), laid the foundation stone. The building stood on elevated
ground, on a dry, gravelly soil. The sea coast is within 12 miles of the estate.
All the conditions combine to make the site one of the very healthiest in
England.
What the
Auctioneers Said
This splendid property
consists of a main or central building in which some four hundred lads can be
properly maintained, trained and educated. Attached to it is a very fine
principal's house at the north end of the building. A laundry is erected· at the
south end of the institution. Close to the main building stands a beautiful
chapel, of handsome elevation, fitted with an organ, pulpit, reading desk and
other necessary adjuncts. At the north end of the grounds is a gardener's
cottage. The River Wensum forms the western boundary of the property. Close to
the river is an open-air swimming bath, 70 ft by 30 ft. A suitable boat house,
belonging to the institution, stands at a convenient point at the west bank of
the river, while a capital recreation or cricket ground faces the eastern or
principal front. The building is surrounded on all sides by charming grounds,
about fifty-four acres in extent. The property is reached from a junction
station on the Great Eastern Railway called
The County School Railway Station..
This immediately adjoins the estate, which is therefore easily accessible by
railway from all parts of the United Kingdom. North Elmham is 15 miles from
Norwich and 130 miles from London. The county school is freehold property. To
acquire the land and to erect and furnish the Institutional buildings is said to
have cost the very large sum of £30,000. The venture was not, however, a
commercial success as a county school, and some years ago the property came into
the market. E. H. Watts, Esq, of the well-known firm of shipowners,
Messrs Watts, Watts & Co, of 7 Whittington Avenue, Leadenhall Street, London
EC, was, I found, ready to act a very generous part indeed in acquiring the
property. Eventually he told me he would buy the property out and out himself,
and convey it to our Association, leaving it to us to carry out our plans as
best we might!
The
Building of the Ship
Then followed my illness and
a long absence from my usual post. During this interval, matters had to remain
without making much progress. But the time was not altogether lost. My
assistants were at work getting further information, and during my illness I
spent many a half-hour of enforced quietness and inactivity in perfecting the
plan, which shaped itself gradually before me. My hope was that after the
property was handed over to us we would be able to convert it into a naval
training school for the whole kingdom, and send to it picked boys to remain
there for training for at least three or four years, during which their
education would be completed and their physical development carefully attended
to. It appeared to me that, in order to do this, the whole house should be
fitted up like a great ship of His Majesty's Navy. We would endeavour to get as
a Captain and Commander some Christian man of good standing, settled character
and tried experience, who had been himself a Commander in the Navy. All the
assistants would also be trained men who had served as Petty Officers in HM
Navy. Of course it would be imperative that all were good men, men of prayer and
of Christian character and also total abstainers. The boys under training would
be dressed in sailor attire; they would sleep in hammocks; and the whole
atmosphere and discipline of the house would be that of a first-class training
ship. Near the main building, on the estate, we would erect a 'ship on land,' so
that the boys would have practical training from the first. Then, as we were
only a few miles, as the crow flies, from Hunstanton, or Lynn, or Yarmouth, we
would eventually, at one or other of these places, have a cutter or a launch,
and the whole of the fine weather of each year would be devoted to taking
parties of our lads in training at the Naval School to sea for short voyages,
thus giving each one some degree of practical experience in seamanship.
The
Outcome
This was roughly the scheme
that came before me while I pondered on the subject. And now, let me tell my
readers what has actually taken place. On 4th June 1901, while I was still away
ill, this property was actually purchased by our generous friend, Mr E. H.
Watts, and the title deeds were conveyed to the Council of our Incorporated
Association. As soon as I came back, a close and searching survey of the place
was made, and specifications were carefully prepared and issued to contractors
for the work necessary to be done in the buildings and on the grounds, to fit
them for the great purpose which we have in view.
Heart and
Hand!
Now, may I invite from all
my readers such sympathy and good-will on behalf of this new project as shall
enable me soon to complete the whole scheme, and to present the Nation, ere
long, with a first-class Naval Training School? It will require a large exercise
of generosity. But the result will be to mark an epoch in our own work! When the
house is finished I shall hope to be able to close up some of our inconvenient
East-End Homes, situated in unsalubrious districts, and transfer the fortunate
youngsters to the splendid and healthful surroundings of the Norfolk Home. No
one will be surprised that I propose to call this house by the name of the donor
as at the head of this paper.
The Watts
Naval Training School
Let me add that Mr E. H.
Watts originally intended that his gift should be in loving memory of our late
illustrious and beloved Queen Victoria. My readers therefore who are in sympathy
with what I have written will have a unique opportunity when contributing to its
formation of commemorating the Great and Good Queen, while at the same time they
are forwarding a scheme of untold usefulness and of imperial importance.
A Final
Word
I earnestly beseech the
prayers of all my readers that, in every step taken to promote this undertaking,
we may have the blessing of God resting upon us. Those who, perhaps, cannot
give, may well pray that God will touch the hearts of His servants who can
give to minister freely and directly of their substance to accomplish this
great design. Those who can give can follow their gifts with prayer that the
whole work may be, as Mr Watts himself humbly desires it to be, to the glory of
God.
Dr. Barnardo
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